Anti-junta resistance forces have set up a new tollgate in Myanmar's Sagaing Region, imposing heavy fees on drivers forced onto grueling detour routes as conflict blocks the country's main northern highway.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied Kachin People’s Defence Force (KPDF) began collecting tolls on Sept. 14 in Mezar village, Indaw Township. 

Fees range from 10,000 Myanmar kyat for private family cars to 700,000 kyat for loaded commercial trucks taking bypasses around impassable sections of the Mandalay–Myitkyina Highway.

Ongoing standoffs between military regime forces and resistance troops have rendered major stretches of the strategic highway inaccessible. 

Drivers attempting the detour face muddy monsoon tracks—where elephants are sometimes deployed to haul out stuck vehicles—and a gauntlet of checkpoints operated by both sides that can cost drivers tens of millions of kyat per trip.

Many freight trucks have remained stranded along riverbanks for over a month waiting for ferry crossings, with costs mounting daily amid soaring food prices and transit fees. 

Residents have warned travelers to avoid the route unless necessary.